Randy Hopper Faces Voters Tuesday

Hopper and young Mistress

Field operation rout of Randy Hopper has working families confidentially predicting his doom on Tuesday

A top Wisconsin recall target, State Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Empire (formerly Fond du Lac)), faces Democratic nominee, Oshkosh Deputy Mayor Jessica King, August 9 in a rematch of their 2008 election narrowly won by Hopper.

Hopper is a leading political ally of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and has been facing a near-constant stream of allegations that he turned his back on his working-class constituents.

Hopper has also come under heavy criticism after it was revealed in March that Hopper no longer resided at his Fond du Lac [Fondy] home, rather with his then 25-year-old mistress in Madison.

"Family values" hypocrisy is a political charge with which Hopper has had to contend ever since.

Turn-out

Though Hopper has aroused opposition on several levels, knowledgeable sources in Fond du Lac County point to an effective Republican turn-out machine that could make the race on Tuesday a relatively close call.

Wisconsin recall Rally, March 12 - Photo: Leon

Turn-out, even with the efforts of a powerful Democratic field operation, will determine the winner who certainly remains in doubt.

However, almost giddy optimism remains the sentiment among working family-aligned volunteers against the millionaire Hopper who is seen - even among some of his friends - as having turned his back on his district and his family as he made common cause with an extremist Republican administration.

Phone conversations with sources close to the recall effort this weekend confirm a frenetically paced recall field operation with one long-time aide saying, he was "in the middle of a GOTV [Get Out the Vote] canvas" at approximately 9:00 local time Saturday morning in which some 50 volunteers were already knocking on doors in Fond du Lac.

Rallying in the cold, March 11


"There's very little middle ground from people we have talked to. And most of the people talking are breaking our way. A polarized electorate spells a win for Jessica King," said one long-time working-class man from Fondy. "I mean no one is taking anything for granted, which is precisely why Randy Hopper will lose and Jessica [King] will win."

This perception of a field operation rout against Randy Hopper is the object of efforts to portray Hopper as finally hitting the doors (Schneider, National Review Online), though this perception will not likely change this late in the game.

Other Recall Targets

GOP sources say that Sen. Dan Kapanke and Hopper "are toast."  However, they express confidence Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) will prevail, a sentiment contradicted by a recall-Olsen source. The other three races are regarded as toss-ups.

Three net wins are needed to flip the Wisconsin Senate to Democratic control.

Recall groups say they will win all six races Tuesday.

Ambush

Scott Walker with the help of Hopper targeted Wisconsin families when Walker "dropped the bomb" in an ambush on public employee unions, as described by Walker in a taped phone conversation in which Walker believed he was speaking with far-right billionaire, David Koch, and in which Walker bragged that he was scheming to first threaten and then fire public workers in a politically timed fashion.

Since that display of corruption and cynicism went public, Hopper has been operating under a cloud made darker by revelations that his mistress secured a $43,000 state job with the Walker administration. [Bice]

Hypocritical - even by Randy Hopper standards.
Hopper is in the middle wearing an AFSCME shirt

Scott Walker and Hopper have demonized public sector workers, but Hopper is featured in a photo wearing a public employee union t-shirt in what most people regard as another display of political hypocrisy first revealed by Blogging Blue in March.

It's now conventional wisdom that had Hopper and Walker been honest with Wisconsin citizens about plans to attack public workers and their families, they never would have been elected in their close 2008-10 elections.

Divorce

Hopper is divorcing his wife in a contested legal proceeding listed as being presided over by Judge Robert J. Wirtz, Circuit Court of Fond du Lac County; and the Fond du Lac County Family Court Commissioner.

Legal information on the online Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) site is sketchy and dynamic on these proceedings, with no explanation for the changing information available on the WCCA site.